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And it’s a place that Neil was on the verge of closing for good - until a major motion picture came to town in 2006 and saved the day.

He recalled: “Without Atonement, we’d have closed, no question. The TV licence was due for renewal and we couldn't decide whether it was worth doing or not - that’s how close we came. Then Atonement arrived and everything changed.”

Looking around the old building, which has been a cinema since 1965, not much evidence of Atonement remains, save for a side annex which housed a bar in the film.

Neil Bates gets the cinema ready for the region's premiere of Atonement in August 2007

But without the impetus from Atonement, Neil wouldn't have been able to develop it to where it is today, with loyal patrons sitting in plush new seats which bring a touch of luxury to its reassuringly old-fashioned auditorium.

It has 203 seats, 66 of which are set to be replaced in December when the next batch of new ones arrives - hopefully in time for the new Star Wars film.

Behind the big screen - at one time, the biggest on Teesside, and still covered by the original curtain - is the old stage, which Neil uses for storage.

But down the stairs - seven feet below beach level - are four dressing rooms, which used to be graced by some major theatrical names but, as on our visit, often end up flooded.

A look round the Regent Cinema in Redcar. *With video.

Neil, 47, explained: “After heavy rainfall, like we had on Saturday night, the ground gets so saturated, the floors end up under water.

"It’s been happening since it was built - they’ll have had a lot of theatre artistes with wet feet! And it can make some very haunting noises down here, when the tide is sloshing around in the drains.”

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Another major crisis came three years ago when a fierce storm saw waves burst through the ladies’ exit door, flooding the front of the cinema.

But, incredibly, thanks to sandbags and the old dressing rooms taking most of the water, the old building survived relatively unscathed.

A look round the Regent Cinema in Redcar. The digital projector in the projector room. *With video.

“It was like hell’s aquarium out there but all it did was wash the graffiti off the back wall,” said Neil.

Two things never break down - the curtain motor and the original box office ticket machine, which gets used every day but just keeps going.

And while there’s been no sign of ghosts - “psychics have been in but they all tell us something different,” says Neil - there has been one spooky occurrence, with a disused water heater’s pipes suddenly bursting into life.

Nowadays, just one hi-tech modern piece of kit is needed in the projectionist’s room - a stark contrast to the days of rolls and rolls of celluloid.

And as he looks around his own picture palace, Neil reflects: “I like to think the place has a special place in people’s hearts. Certainly Atonement caused a big upsurge of interest which has continued ever since.

“And while I want to keep developing it, it won’t lose its character. You can’t buy history.”